Internally, corporations remake themselves all the time. This metamorphosis is often invisible and can happen slowly over a period of time, or in an instant as with acquisitions. But at some point the newly evolved company finds its new identity in direct conflict with its old image -- an outdated, inappropriate external expression of its new internal self. The smart company, like someone undergoing a personal metamorphosis, will decide it's time for an image makeover.

This generally involves relocating to larger facilities, expanded communications, security and computer systems, new corporate signage, renovated offices, and a brand new flow pattern to the way it conducts its business on site. One company that understands these challenges and brings new images to life is Design Management Corporation of Natick, MA. This award-winning full service design firm, which also provides facility site selection, interior and space planning, furniture design, data networking and move management, was recently cited by Architectural Record as "one of the best managed firms in America".

Kristin Hill, co-founder of the firm, believes their use of CAD (computer-aided design) technology explains some of that success. "Each employee is supplied with a state-of-the-art, high-tech computer-aided design workstation. In and of itself, this is quite unusual. Big firms don't utilize CAD technology in the strongest way and small firms tend not to invest in the expensive equipment. For us, it's an ongoing investment. We are constantly investing money in new technology."

Design Management is a team of architects, designers and business professionals that strives to bring genius to work to capture the new energies and synergy of a company on the remake, and to reflect that same vitality in its facility makeovers. Their corporate clients are often savvy, perhaps even visionary, but many cannot clearly visualize how an entrance will "look" from standard plans, or why certain styles will not work in a given space. Some are simply uneasy with the entire design process. A few know exactly the image that's right and want to be assured it's in the plans. What these clients are looking for is insurance.

For Design Management and its clients, that insurance is presentations in 3D. "People visualize ideas in 3D," explains Maura Snow, an associate with Design Management, "and 3D CAD presentations instantly show clients why some things work and some don't. The visualization power of CAD technology gives the clients an unprecedented level of corporate comfort at the desktop as they walk through 3D renderings of what could be radically redesigned spaces."

According to Snow, the technology also saves hours of work. "Imagine doing a perspective by hand and then painfully realizing it should have been five feet to the left. Now when we draw a model in 3D, unlimited views are easy to achieve. We use it for design details, such as lighting. We can even determine the best spot to hang new signage without ever putting a single nail in the wall."

The program used by the design firm is DataCAD, the 2D/3D CAD system from DATACAD LLC (Avon, CT). The firm uses it for both design and photo-realistic rendering. "We find the DataCAD technology instrumental in closing business and in presenting ideas to clients," says Ms. Snow, "especially for makeover clients, new clients, or if the changes involve the reception and executive areas. We also use it as an innovative marketing tool for basic selling. We show potential clients the best of our past 3D presentations whenever they come in to see our 100% CAD environment. We like to show off our projects in fly-bys, including walk-throughs of building interiors. With 3D, it's just that easy to visualize and present a space."

One makeover client, Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, is a case in point. The bank is located in a "class A" space on two floors at One Financial Center, Boston. The space had not been updated in over ten years. "It lacked any definable image," says Snow. "The main reception and executive areas were indistinguishable from the 'back of the house' in both form and finish." It lacked a strong entry way which created confusion for bank clients exiting the elevator, and the area was very enclosed.

The bank was aware of the problem and initiated a move to update the corporate image. The challenge the design firm faced was to open up the executive areas while maintaining visual and acoustic privacy for sensitive banking and board meetings. The bank's executive committee also wanted to "see" the space in advance -- how it appeared to someone walking down the stairs, entering the door, or sitting in the large executive meeting room.

Design Management, along with the bank's executive committee, developed the plans. But it was clear that without 3D visual aids some bank officers may not interpret the plans clearly or realize that the original design objectives were achieved.

The solution was to quickly create a walk-through using the 3D DataCAD program. The resulting model provided a level of finish that rendered images clearly, while pinpointing some design and detail problems in advance. Says Snow, "We find that by creating the details in advance, we inherently work out some down-the-road design problems. In the end, half the time spent preparing the presentations is marketing, 50% is actually billable as design."

The 3D CAD plans and walk-through were then loaded onto a laptop computer and brought to the presentation. There, in the bank's outdated and aging space, the design firm "virtually" and leisurely escorted the bank committee through their new space, taking the time to focus on the areas of concern with regard to privacy. The firm showed the committee how their new image was possible while critical area requirements were met. Says Snow, "The 3D tour was the perfect amount of information needed to convince the bank we were going in the right direction, and that the finished product would look amazingly like these first, elemental images."

With the second client, the image makeover proved more of a challenge. The Boston-based commercial real estate firm of Lynch, Murphy, Walsh & Partners faced a major relocation within One Financial Center. The new space presented new opportunities but it also created problems. For one, the real estate firm was comprised of a group of partners with very diverse style preferences. The design firm, which readily recognized some physical space limitations, also had some ideas of its own.

Says Snow, "One of the partners was talking chair rails and crown molding, a beautiful treatment, but a style we knew was inappropriate. It's our job to find a tactful way to demonstrate what's being requested simply will not work -- such as grand treatment in a low ceiling space. We understand the difficulty, since many clients cannot visualize the suggestion clearly. We find 3D presentations are the best way to overcome this."

Instead, the firm presented a very strong, contemporary, yet classic space design, "which everyone loved", says Snow. The 3D model "walked" the client through the space in a preset sequence, which the partners quickly began to utilize to view other angles of visual and aesthetic concern. "We understood we needed to come up with an image and present it in 3D or they would never accept it," says Snow. The firm first prepared a quickshader presentation of the executive reception and conference areas -- both very tight spaces with numerous client restrictions regarding privacy. The partners were "pleased and convinced we had made the right decision," says Snow. "We could never have sold such a radically different idea from their original expectations, especially given such a diverse group of people, had it not been for the 3D technology."

"We added finishes to the model via a photo-realistic rendering program -- Renderize Live! -- that works well with the DataCAD 3D technology for even more sophisticated modeling techniques. We produced an image for the partners that reaffirmed their choice -- an updated look with classic finishes that met all their expectations. And again, the finished space is almost the exact image as originally presented in the basic 3D model."

According to Tim Halloran, a partner at Lynch, Murphy, Walsh, "We are in the real estate business -- the leasing and selling of commercial properties, and we are naturally more accustomed to reading plans than most. But even having a familiarity with 2D plans, the opportunity to 'see' our new space in the 3D format was quite an experience. The 3D presentation was a huge selling tool for Design Management, and a real leg up for us to get a good 'look' at the space. If we can derived this kind of benefit from the presentation, people unaccustomed to interpreting plans would benefit twice as much." Besides creating 3D presentations for image makeover accounts, the design firm also uses it whenever a client needs help in grasping complex visual ideas. "It's an easy, valuable tool to utilize when you need a clincher in a difficult selling process," says Snow. "And it's worth it, because in the end, happy clients are the best clients and marketing you could ever have."

Reflects Ms Snow, "But whatever we may accomplished with the presentations, we are principally committed to utilizing DataCAD's 3D technology to its fullest to achieve an efficiency for our clients and a profitability for ourselves."